While Chennai has been under the rampant spread of COVID-19 with increasing cases and an increasing number of people under quarantine, the Greater Chennai Corporation has installed the on-ground volunteer force with the view of focusing and monitoring the people who are kept under home quarantine and isolation. 

Named as Friend of COVID Citizen Under Surveillance (FOCUS), a team of 3500 volunteers has been deployed by the corporation across 200 wards in the city's 15 zones. These volunteers would monitor the people under home quarantine to ensure that the quarantined people adhere to the quarantine norms and guidelines in the mandated period to contain the spread. 

Dear Chennaites,

Meet our FOCUS (Friend of COVID person Under Surveillance) Volunteers who will be helpful to the people under Isolation and Quarantine. 3500 Volunteers around the city to watch you, help you and serve you at your doorstep.#HereToServe#Covid19Chennai#GCC pic.twitter.com/mFJ6U2yQw0

— Greater Chennai Corporation (@chennaicorp) June 23, 2020

According to the reports, each of the 3,500 volunteers of the FOCUS group would be visiting every quarantined people under their limits at least three times a day. Along with ensuring that people stick to the guidelines, the volunteers would also aid in the supply of the essential commodities for the quarantined and isolated people including the supply of medicines, groceries, and other essentials so that the quarantined people won't hop out of the residence and mix up with the community.

According to the corporation, a volunteer would be appointed for every five to ten streets, and being the friend of the quarantined people, volunteers would ensure that the people get the essential needs delivered at their doorstep. Along with deploying volunteer force, the corporation has also been working to install additional COVID-19 Care Centers in the city and the civic body has requested Anna University to set up such care centers at the varsity's premises.

The corporation commissioner said that the city has 55 centers and these centers are equipped with 17,500 beds to accommodate the people and these centers house 3,200 patients as on Tuesday. The civic body is also concentrating on conducting fever camps in the city. According to the reports, the corporation has conducted 6,811 camps in the city since June 8 and about 4,33,857 people have attended the camps.

These fever camps will be scanning people to detect the symptoms for COVID-19 and more than 13,000 people have been identified to have been suffering from Influenza-like Illness and these camps have collected swab samples from 10,697 people. Chennai has become an active and biggest hotspot for COVID-19 spread in the city. The city has reported 44,205 cases so far as of Tuesday of which 18,889 are active cases, 24,670 have discharged, and 645 had succumbed to the virus.

Also read: COVID-19: TN's tally nears 65,000 with 2,516 fresh cases as Chennai crossed 44,000!